Difference From TNT
It is a common misconception that trinitrotoluene (TNT) and dynamite are the same thing, or that dynamite contains TNT. Though both substances are high explosives, there is little similarity between them. Dynamite is an absorbent mixture soaked in nitroglycerin then compacted into a cylindrical shape and wrapped in paper. TNT is a specific chemical compound called 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene. (Military dynamite is a dynamite substitute, also formulated without nitroglycerin, containing 75% RDX, 15% TNT, 5% SAE 10 motor oil, and 5% cornstarch, but much safer to store and handle for long time than Nobels dynamite.)
A stick of dynamite (0.19kg, 75% Nitroglycerin, no others explosives in the mixture of dynamite) contains roughly 1 MJ of energy. The energy density (joules/kilogram or J/kg) of dynamite is approximately 5 MJ/kg, compared to 4.0 MJ/kg of TNT (for TNT r.e.factor=1.00; for Nobel dynamite r.e. factor=1.25;).
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